Introduction

Part of our Wildlife Management Plan includes doing an annual bird count for the farm. On December 28, 2012, Joni and I drove to the farm to do our usual December bird count. We arrived around 11:30 a.m. and began our 24-hour count with some Mourning Doves that we saw as we drove up the right-of-way. We finished the bird count a day later, noonish, on December 29, 2012.

Here's the list of birds observed during the 24-hour period:

1. Mourning Dove (Zenaida macroura)

A pair of Mourning Doves flushed up out of the grass along the right-of-way as we entered the farm. During the day we saw several dozen.

2. American Crow (Corvus brachyrhynchos)

The first thing I did when we arrived at the house was to take Rudy for a quick walk. On that walk, I heard two birds to be added to our list: crows and a Ruby-Crowned Kinglet. The American Crow is a commonly seen and heard bird on the Sula-Richards farm. I don't think I have ever been out on the farm and not seen crows. Today was no exception. We heard crows all day and could occasionally see groups of them flying in the distance.

3. Ruby-crowned Kinglet (Regulus calendula)

As mentioned above, the Ruby-crowned Kinglet was first added to the list from hearing its distinctive typewriter-like chatter. (As typewriters become a technology of the past, I wonder how future generations of birders will describe the sound.) But during the next twenty-four hours of the bird count, we would see and photograph Ruby-crowned Kinglets a couple of times. Here's one of those photographs:

Ruby-crowned Kinglet

4. Eastern Phoebe (Sayornis phoebe)

We nearly always start our birding walks by heading toward the pond. There, we saw an Eastern Phoebe.

Eastern Phoebe

5. Great Blue Heron (Ardea herodias)

Another frequent dweller around the pond is a Great Blue Heron which, as usual, flapped off when we walked up.

6. Turkey Vulture (Cathartes aura)

A Turkey Vulture wheeled over us while we were at the pond. We saw several others during that day and the following day. Here's a photograph of one taken the next morning out in the Hi-Fi Pasture:

Turkey Vulture

7. Northern Cardinal (Cardinalis cardinalis)

The Northern Cardinal might be the most commonly seen bird on the Sula-Richards Farm. However, we didn't see any around the pond on this first part of the bird count. We left the pond and walked back to the house, dropped off Rudy, and continued our walk out to the fields and the north fence line. There we finally saw a Cardinal. This picture is from the following morning:

Northern Cardinal

8. American Robin (Turdus migratorius)

We saw lots of robins flying overhead, pretty typical for the farm this time of year. They were frequently seen throughout the bird count. Here is a photograph of a distant group in the treetops.

American Robin

9. Downy Woodpecker (Picoides pubescens)

Just toward the end of this first long bird walk, when we were back within a few yards of the house, Joni noticed a woodpecker up high in a tree. It turned out there were a pair of Downy Woodpeckers there. We watched them for a few minutes and got some middling photographs which, however, are adequate for good identification.

Downy Woodpecker

Downy Woodpecker

10. Northern Mockingbird (Mimus polyglottos)

After a bit of late lunch, I walked back down to the pond. On the way there, I saw a mockingbird. Several others made appearances over the course of the day.

Northern Mockingbird

Northern Mockingbird

11. Carolina Chickadee (Poecile carolinensis)

Also, I heard a Carolina Chickadee on this walk. Some visual sightings and photographs came later in the day.

Carolina Chickadee

12. Golden-crowned Kinglet (Regulus satrapa)

These photographs were taken on the walk down to the pond mentioned earlier. At the time of taking them, I thought this bird was probably a Ruby-crowned Kinglet. However, once I got back to the house and examined the photographs on my computer that I could tell that this was a Golden-crowned Kinglet. This was an exciting find; seeing both species of the kinglets on the farm in one day is unusual. (And, yes, the little guy was hanging upside down when these photographs were taken.)

Golden-crowned Kinglet

Golden-crowned Kinglet

13. Pine Warbler (Dendroica pinus)

The Yellow-throated Vireo and the Pine Warbler are pretty similar species to my eyes, but I've decided to identify this bird as the Pine Warbler.

Pine Warbler

Pine Warbler

14. White-throated Sparrow (Zonotrichia albicollis)

Walking along the road, about halfway down to the pond, I saw several sparrows in the underbrush. They didn't seem particularly shy, and I just waited as they moved from bush to bush until they finally were quite close. I have identified them as White-throated Sparrows. Here's some of the better photographs for identification purposes:

White-throated Sparrow	White-throated Sparrow
White-throated Sparrow	White-throated Sparrow

15. Pileated Woodpecker (Dryocupus pileatus)

Next morning, quite cold. I went down to the pond and sat for awhile in the bird blind. But no waterfowl showed up. I stepped out of the blind to warm up by moving around a bit. And I saw and heard a raucous Pileated Woodpecker flying over. I wasn't quick enough to get a photograph, unfortonuately.

16. Cedar Waxwing (Bombycilla cedrorum)

I also saw some Cedar Waxwings up at the top of a distant tree. As they flew off, I got one poor photograph:

Cedar Waxwing

17. Yellow-rumped Warbler (Dendroica coronata)

In the same tree as the Cedar Waxwings was a Yellow-rumped Warbler.

Yellow-rumped Warbler	Yellow-rumped Warbler
Yellow-rumped Warbler	Yellow-rumped Warbler	Yellow-rumped Warbler

18. Carolina Wren (Thryothorus ludovicianus)

Joni joined me down at the pond, and we decided to finish the morning off with a walk out and around the Hi-Fi Pasture. On that walk we saw a Carolina Wren.

Carolina Wren

Carolina Wren

19. Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus)

Out at the Hi-Fi Pasture, we saw some Black Vultures, which was a welcome addition to the list. Both types of vultures should be readily seen on any of our bird counts.

Black Vulture